


Return of the Greek Gods Book 1

by suburbantimewaster



Series: Return of the Greek Gods [1]
Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Original Work
Genre: Cybercrimes, Detectives, Familiars, Fantasy, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-04 21:00:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20477399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suburbantimewaster/pseuds/suburbantimewaster
Summary: When Chris's dad finds his hospital the center of a cybercrime, he reunites with an old friend to save him from a sinister ploy.  However, this ploy might not be entirely technological.  Meanwhile, a young witch discovers that her parents died in an accident, an accident that might have a more magical purpose in nature.





	1. Prologue

Tess leaned back on a tree, reading her textbook as she heard her bag vibrate. She put her textbook down and took her mirror out to see the faces of a woman with sandy brown hair and a man with golden blonde hair on the other side, a bedroom right behind them. 

"Mom, Dad, how are you?" Tess asked with a smile. "Enjoying your trip in the mortal world?"

"Yes, it's been very exciting!" her mother, Serena, told her gleefully. "How about you? Enjoying your studies?"

"Afraid not," Tess admitted. "Don't get me wrong, I'd love nothing more than to become a healer, but it is hard work."

"Hang in there," her father, Darren, told her with a smile. "It will all be worth it in the end."

Tess couldn't help but return the smile until a nearby dove walked by with an injured wing. She turned to the dove and stroked him with her free hand, concentrating her magic on the injury as the bone tissue healed. "Noah, what happened?" she asked him concerned.

The usual, out for my morning fly when I get my wing caught in a tree branch, he told her.

"So, what happened to Noah?" Serena asked.

"He just told us," Tess said, turning to her mirror with confusion.

"No, he told you," Serena corrected.

Tess contemplated what Serena meant by that until it clicked in her head.

"Oh," she realized, giggling at her momentary lapse of ignorance. "Sorry, I forgot that not everyone can hear familiars."

"Only people with magic inside them," Darren informed her. "Though, in your case, only you can hear Noah."

"That's because he's contracted exclusively to me!" Tess said, beaming with pride. "Were he an independent familiar, that wouldn't be the case."

It doesn't hurt that you were only one of three applicants, Noah told her. Doves aren't really a popular familiar choice.

Tess only smiled at Noah and then turned back to her parents. "So, how is the mortal world?" she asked excitedly. "Tell me everything!"

"Well, mortals do have ways of getting along without magic," Serena said appreciatively. "For instance, did you know that they have these phones that not only call people, but allow you to listen to music and play all sorts of games on?"

Darren laughed. "Your mother wanted to get one, but I didn't see the point when we have this trusty mirror," he said to her.

"It's a good thing I wasn't there," Tess told him with a chuckle. "I might have wanted to get one of those myself."

"I'll never understand why you and your mother have such a fascination with mortal technology," Darren said to her with a shake of his head.

"Because it's new and exciting!" her mother told him gleefully.

"She said it!" Tess said with the same glee.

"Okay, I'll give you that," Darren agreed. "But nothing mortals come up with can ever be as reliable as our magic."

"Isn't that a bit anti-mortal?" Tess asked, feeling a little alarmed.

"I didn't mean for it to be," Darren defended. "It's just that mortals don't have the advantages we do, so they have to rely on science and technology to achieve what we can easily get through magic."

He does have a point, Noah told Tess.

"And we're going to see it all on display at the California Academy of Sciences!" Serena bragged with her head held high.

"I thought we were going to the Museum of Modern Art," Darren said, turning to face Serena.

"What is it with you and mortal art?" Serena asked.

"It's the only magic shared with witches and mortals," Darren explained with a smile.

"Well, they both sound amazing!" Tess said with glee until her mirror vibrated. "Love to hear more, but it's almost time for class."

"Bye, Tess," Serena said.

"Hope our fun trip doesn't distract you from your studies," Darren told her.

"Bye mom, bye dad," she said to them. "Have fun in the mortal realm!"

Tess turned the mirror off and placed it and her textbook back in her bag.

So, what's your next class? Noah asked her.

"History," Tess told Noah as she got up from the ground, taking her bag with her. "Definitely not one of my favorite classes."

So I have to spend more time flying around waiting for you to come back, Noah said bitterly as he flew away right when Tess got to the door.

"At least you get exercise," Tess told him as she walked back into the building. "I have to listen to the professor prattle on about horrible stuff that doesn't even matter."

If you want to be a great healer, you have to learn about what happened in the past, Noah told her exasperatedly.

"You sound just like my professor," Tess said, entering the building.

Don't forget to speak to me with your mind when you're inside, Noah reminded her.

"Why?" Tess asked as she walked down the hall. "You're right outside and you can hear everything I say."

Because people walking by you will think you're insane, Noah told her as if it were obvious.

"Right, of course," Tess said and then added mentally. Thought speak from now on.

* * *

"A long time ago, witches and mortals used to live in harmony," the professor drowned on. "One day, the witches grew arrogant and ruled over the mortals in what they refer to as Greek Mythology."

Tess gazed at the teacher, pretending that she was listening when, in reality, she was contacting her familiar.

Anything interesting going on outside? Tess asked him.

People walking out, people coming in, Noah told her. I think one of your classmates might be cheating on his girlfriend. No, that is his girlfriend, she just glamoured her hair.

Tess giggled at the disappointment in Noah's tone, drawing attention from the professor.

"Is there something you find funny about slavery?" her professor asked her.

"No, I was just..." Tess said, searching her mind for an excuse. "...Thinking of something that happened at lunch today."

"This information will be in your exam," the professor reminded her. "So I suggest that you pay attention."

"Yes, of course," Tess said quickly. "Sorry."

"As I was saying, Zeus took an interest in the mortal, Alcmene, and glamoured himself to look like her husband," the professor explained as she walked through the classroom. "When Hera discovered Zeus's deception, she sent snakes to murder Zeus's son by another woman, Heracles."

"Why?" Tess asked, her chin resting on the back of her hand.

The professor turned to Tess as she spoke. "Can you clarify?" the professor asked.

"Why would Hera attacked Heracles?" Tess asked, putting her arms to the side as she sat straight up. "It wasn't his fault that Zeus cheated on her."

"Because Hera was angry," the professor explained crossing her arms. "And, since she couldn't take her wrath out on Zeus, she chose to punish his son."

"So, the mortals suffer for what a witch did," Tess said sadly, knowing that there was a reason she hated this class.

"And this wasn't the first time Hera's jealousy got the best of her," her professor explained, continuing her stride.

"Yeah, didn't she once curse that Lamia chick into becoming a monster?" One of the other students said with a chuckle

"Yes, she did," the professor told him sharply. "And it was no laughing matter."

"Why couldn't Hera take her wrath out on Zeus?" Tess asked. "He's the one that cheated."

"What are you saying, cheaters deserve to get killed?" one of the other students asked her accusingly.

"No!" Tess said a little too defensively. "I don't think anyone deserves to be killed, but Zeus was the one that broke his wedding vows."

"But it takes two people to have an affair," the professor pointed out.

"Yes but, in Zeus's case, the situation was different," Tess explained, feeling as if she were being ridiculed, even if that was not her professor's intention. "Zeus dominated the mortals as the King of the Sky and he... wasn't good with rejection."

"Yeah, it was either fuck Zeus or suffer his wrath," one of the other students pointed out. "Either way, you suffered Hera's wrath, so you didn't really have any options."

"Exactly," the professor concurred. "These witches ruled over all of Greece and Rome with an iron fist, and Zeus and Hera were not the only ones who abused their power."

Before the professor could continue her lecture, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said as the door opened to reveal a man standing in the hallway.

"Excuse me," the man said hesitantly. "I need to see Tess Wilson."

"Go ahead," the professor told the man while excusing the young witch.

Tess went to the hall, feeling an overwhelming sense of dread. "So, what do you need to see me about?" she asked.

"It's your parents," the man told Tess. "We just received word from their driver."

"What did he say?" Tess asked, a part of her fearing the answer.

"He's..." the man began as if he were dreading answering her question. "In the hospital, recovering from a car accident."

"Are my parents with him?" Tess asked, her voice higher than she meant it to be.

The man gave a deep sigh and then said the very words that shattered Tess's world. "I'm afraid they didn't make it."


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You got to see what's going on in the witch world and learn that, in their history, the Greek Gods were real people. Now take a visit to the mortal world and meet my other protagonist, Candy, and her sidekick, Chris.

"You're kidding me!" Chris Patel said in his seat near the circular table, holding his phone with a silver casing in his hand. "You've been interning in Kenya for three months and you're still serving coffee?"

"Apparently I need more 'hands-on experience' before I can take part in any actual research," the raven haired woman with a mocha skin tone said bitterly. "Though I don't know how they expect me to get what they're refusing to give me."

Chris could only laugh at his sister, Cathy's, bitter tone. "Well, at the risk of going overprotective big brother on you, I'm happy that you're just serving coffee away from dangerous animals," he told her.

Cathy rolled her eyes. "If you ask me, it really defeats the purpose of a zoology internship," she told him. "It would be like you having to spend your residency sweeping up the hospital."

"Okay, you got me there," Chris reluctantly agreed. "Though, with the patients Dr. Burgos gets, maybe sweeping the floor would be more interesting."

"Still not getting anyone interesting?" Cathy asked as one of the doctors turned on the microwave.

"That depends on whether you find two repressed parents forcing their teenage son to go to Dr. Burgos because they caught him masturbating," Chris said bitterly.

Cathy laughed. "Okay, I'll admit, that is lame but you're still doing something that's relevant for your future career," she assured him. "At this point, I'd be happy if I could just observe zebras sleeping."

"A picture of zebras sleeping can fetch a thousand likes on Instagram," Chris pointed out. "I post this on my blog and I'll be lucky if I can get a few more hits."

Chris could tell by the look in Cathy's eyes that she was about to make a snarky remark until they heard someone shouting from a nearby room.

"YOU INCOMPETENT FUCK!" the man shouted.

"Sir, if you could please calm down," said another male voice.

"Is that Dad?" Cathy asked, not even bothering to mask the worry in her voice.

"YOU'LL BE HEARING FROM MY LAWYER!" the voice shouted as the door slammed shut.

"Cathy, I'm going to have to cut this short," Chris said hastily.

"Okay," Cathy said. "Tell mom and dad that I love them," she said, about to hang up. "And give my best to Ian."

"Sure thing," Chris said, hanging up his phone and shooting out of his chair.

He left the break room, going as fast as he could in loafers, and saw a man slam the door to the administrator's office. Chris knocked on the wooden door and waited for a few moments of silence. "Come in," the voice of Arjun said on the other side.

Chris opened the door to see a plump man with a dark olive skin tone, black hair with a few grey streaks and an Armani suit typing on the computer at his wooden desk. "Hey, Dad," he greeted Arjun.

Arjun looked up from his computer to see his son standing at the doorway. "Chris?" he asked surprised. "Shouldn't you be working?"

"I'm on break," Chris told him. "I was chatting with Cathy."

Arjun smiled. "How is my little princess?" he asked. "Hope she's not doing anything too dangerous."

"She's still serving coffee," Chris answered and then added. "And she's worried about you."

"Why would she be worried?" Arjun asked.

"Because we both heard that guy screaming at you," Chris explained. "What's going on?"

"It doesn't concern you," Arjun told him harshly, turning his attention back to his computer.

"I think my dad getting sued does concern me!" Chris responded angrily. "And this is the third time this week I've heard a patient threaten you like this!"

"It was a mix-up, nothing more," Arjun insisted.

"What kind of mix-up?" Chris asked.

"A medical mix-up," Arjun explained and, at the look on Chris's face, went into more detail. "One of the doctors prescribed a medication that a patient was allergic to."

"And now they're threatening to sew you," Chris guessed.

"Actually, he demanded that I fire the doctor who prescribed it or he'll sew me," Arjun said in a melancholy tone. "I contacted him about this and he swears up and down that it wasn't the medication he prescribed."

"Again, third time that's happened this week," Chris pointed out. "Maybe we need to call the police about this."

"And tell them what?" Arjun replied dryly. "My staff is filled with incompetent buffoons?"

"It could be a cybercrime," Chris said, folding his arms in contemplation. "Wouldn't be the first time this happened to a hospital."

"Still disappointed with Dr. Burgos's patients?" Arjun asked with a chuckle.

Chris put his arms to the side and turned to face his dad. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Come on, Chris, I read your blog," Arjun said, as if it were obvious.

"Okay, Dr. Burgos's patients have been rather dull," Chris admitted. "But I find it a little odd that three different patients were prescribed life-threatening allergies and three different doctors deny prescribing it." Arjun still looked unconvinced. "Okay, I'll make a deal with you. I won't get the police involved but let me hire a private detective to investigate this."

Arjun leaned back in his chair, as if considering Chris's offer. "All right," he told Chris with a nod. "You can hire a private detective, but make sure he's competent."

"Thanks, Dad," Chris said, leaving the office. "I won't let you down."

Chris went back to the break room and turned his phone on, heading straight for the Facebook app. He saw a memory posted at the top of his profile, a picture of him and Ian from two years ago. There he was at a carnival, his jet black hair brushed back, a twinkle in his chocolate brown eyes and a smile on his dark olive skinned oval face wearing a white shirt that clung tight to him, showing off his athletic physique. Next to him was a spiky platinum blond haired man with porcelain skin wearing glasses and a Batman shirt, looking like he was having the time of his life. The very picture brought a tear to Chris's eye. Then he searched for private detectives and the first name on the list was one he never thought he'd see again.

* * *

Chris parked his Mercedes in an empty space as he looked at the rundown apartment building.

"This is where she lives?" Chris said with surprise and slight distaste.

He felt out of place in his Armani suit and loafers, afraid that if one neighbor saw it he'd be running for his life. Chris double checked the GPS on his phone and, sure enough, this was the place. He'll admit, he did look at other detectives to see if he could hire someone else, anyone else, but he did promise Arjun he'd get someone competent and, unfortunately, she was the best of the best. Chris took a deep breath and left the luxury of his car's leather seats to see a large deep puddle right in front of him surrounded by several small ones. He shut the door and kept an eye out for any dry spots, carefully watching his step as he made sure to avoid any wet areas. It wasn't long until he reached the dry cement. Chris was about to make his way to the front door when it opened to reveal an overweight, yet well dressed and well groomed man, who looked furious.

"Lousy ugly bitch!" He exclaimed.

The man slammed the door to the driver's seat of his car and sped out of there through the puddles, splashing Chris.

"So much for not ruining my suit."

Still, Chris couldn't help wonder what all that was about when he opened the door to see a dank hallway that looked like it was falling apart. However, in Chris's opinion, the fact that the building was still standing was a miracle in itself.

Chris took his phone out of his pocket and double-checked the address. 

"Fourth floor, right," he said to himself.

Since there was no elevator, he had to walk up the stairs. It took a while to get to the fourth floor and, when he finally got there, he heard some moaning and grunting. Chris took the hint and was about to leave until the noise stopped. He waited a few minutes until the door opened and a tall dark and handsome man exited, putting his shirt on over his muscular physique as a woman with a white towel wrapped around her body stood in the doorway.

"So, do I get your number?" the man asked.

She slammed the door shut. The man stood there for a few seconds, then shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave.

Chris kept gazing at the well-built man as he left, not knowing if it was because of the stranger's good looks, the peculiar situation, or both. Then he knocked on the door.

"It's unlocked," A feminine voice with a thick New Jersey accent told him.

Chris opened the door to find himself greeted to the smell of bourbon and tobacco ash. An orange tabby cuddled up on the cushion of a torn up couch. A small TV stood in front of that very couch and an end table stood to the left of it with an ashtray on top and a half-finished cigarette. Dirty dishes that looked like it's been weeks since they've seen any use filled the sink and the trashcan looked like it hadn't been taken out in days with more trash piled on the side of the counter it leaned on while a rat nibbled on a piece of garbage. A desk lay near the back wall, covered with an outdated computer and stacks of papers, and a dresser lay to the right of it covered with worn out books and toys. In the middle of the room stood a woman wearing nothing but a towel that outlined her small, yet firm, breasts and lack of curves, stopping at her thighs, putting her bed back into the wall.

"Chris," the woman said with an arrogant smirk. "Long time no see."

"Candy?" Chris said, hardly believing his eyes.

"In the flesh," she said, taking a quick look at the mud on Chris's Armani suit. "I see you had a run in with my previous client."

"Your previous client?" Chris asked shocked.

"Typical rich shallow fat guy wanting to know if his equally shallow trophy wife was cheating on him," Candy said with a scoff.

"So, you're the..." Chris began hesitantly.

"'Ugly bitch?'" Candy said, getting some clothes out of her dresser. "Yeah, that would be me."

Candy didn't really look ugly to Chris. Sure, Candy's chestnut brown hair looked as if it needed a good comb, dark circles rested under her almond shaped emerald eyes, her round porcelain face looked slightly sunken and her fingernails looked like they'd been carelessly clipped, but she didn't look ugly. If anything, Candy looked more unkempt, as if she were trying to bring back the 90s heroin chic fad. Chris was about to tell her so until another question popped into his mind.

"How did you know I ran into that guy?"

"Simple, there's mud on your suit, yet not a single speck of dirt on your shoes," Candy explained in a tone as if she was explaining to a kindergartener that one and one is two. "So, you tried to avoid the mud only for my previous big wig client to speed through it in the parking lot, ruining your expensive suit."

"You figured all that out just by looking at the mud stain?" Chris said in awe.

"Just like I figured out that you're a psychiatrist in your residency, you love steak, despite consuming it being against your religion, you were on the football team in high school, you come from money and you don't have a single ounce of common sense," Candy said as she let her towel drop to the ground, putting her bare and skinny body on display. "And you sexually prefer men to women."

"Really?" Chris scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. "Tell me, who was that guy who just walked out?"

"Some guy I walked into when I was getting the mail," Candy said nonchalantly as she searched through piles of clothes in her dresser drawer.

"So, you don't know anything about this guy?" Chris asked, walking to the cat. "And you let him in your apartment? Sounds like you're the one who lacks common sense."

"I know that he's in his early 20s, just started Medical School, works part time as a pharmacy tech and has a dog," Candy said, as if these facts were obvious while continuing to search through her drawers.

"How do you even know—?" Chris began, reaching his hand out to pet the cat only for it to hiss and scratch his hand.

Chris pulled back and cried out in pain.

"Yeah, be careful with Shere Khan," Candy said, getting clothes out from her dresser. "He doesn't like strangers."

"Now you tell me," Chris said, looking at the fresh scar on his hand.

As Candy was getting dressed, Chris noticed that, despite her fit tone, she looked a little bit skinnier than she should be. He found himself torn between his concern for her well-being and his curiosity about her intelligence.

"Most of what you said about me is right," Chris told her. "But you already knew about some of it from high school."

"You want to know how I figured out the rest?" Candy said, putting on underwear and a bra. "It's simple, you wear expensive suits that, judging from how well they fit you, must be tailor made, and loafers, which may look good but are a hassle to walk in, especially here. You're wearing them in this neighborhood, meaning you care more about your appearance than you do your life. Your hands look like they've never seen a surgeon's table, you're too young to already have your doctorate and you're the first client I've had that doesn't call me a bitch or tell me to shut up, meaning you find me psychologically intriguing." Candy said, putting on a pair of black skinny jeans. "As for your sexual preference, most guys stare at my boobs or my butt and get a hard-on. You're looking at my stomach and you're worried about my weight."

"I can't help it, you look like you belong in an anorexic health group," Chris defended and then another worry entered his mind. "Wait a minute, you mean you've done this before... with other clients?"

"Depends on the circumstances," Candy said nonchalantly as she put on a blood red tank top.

"Look, I get that you're some Sherlock Holmes deduction master," Chris said, folding his arms over his chest. "But even you can't know everything about someone just by looking at them." Then he finally let his concern show. "I mean, what if you invited a serial killer, a rapist, or a common thief back to your apartment?"

"My deductions must be off, because I thought you were here to hire me for a case not lecture me on the way I live my life," Candy said, taking the half-finished cigarette off the ashtray and placing it in her mouth.

"Well, I'd think that, as you pointed out to me, considering the neighborhood you live in, you'd be a little more careful," Chris argued.

Candy took a knife from the sink and threw it at the rat nibbling on garbage. Chris took a good look at the weapon. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as Chris saw that it hit the parasitic rodent right in the middle, as if she knew exactly where to aim.

"You were saying?" Candy said with a satisfied smirk as she smoked her cigarette.

"Point taken," Chris said, defeated.

"Candy Marino, Private Investigator, at your service," Candy said, as if she was rehearsing lines for a play. "You name it, I'll solve it, and it better be worth my time."

"Considering this apartment, I doubt you can afford to be picky," Chris remarked, putting his hands in his pocket and looking around.

Candy jammed her finished cigarette on the ashtray, favoring Chris with a smirk. "You're right, I can't," she said. "But there are other ways to make a client feel cheated. Just ask the fat guy who ruined your suit."

"Yeah, what was that about?" Chris asked, and then looked at the pile of money on Candy's desk. "Never mind, I think I have a good idea."

"Really, what do you think happened?" Candy asked with her hand on her hip, as if she was talking to a high-school kid that wanted to give their opinion on _The Great Gatsby_.

"He paid you to find out if his wife was having an affair," Chris began, pointing to the money pile on Candy's desk. "You took his money and said that she was cheating on him with the pool boy."

"Why the pool boy?" Candy asked.

"Classic cliché," Chris said, shrugging his shoulders. "A woman marries a man for money, finds herself to be unsatisfied and has an affair with the help, particularly the pool boy."

"Yeah, you would know," Candy said without the slightest bit of tact. "Except I said it was his gardener."

Chris fists clenched at Candy's statement but he kept his anger at bay.

"Still, quite impressive," Candy said gesturing as if it was no big deal. Though, for her, it probably wasn't. "For an amateur."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Chris said sardonically. "So, was I right?"

"The usual, ugly guy gets rich and marries a beautiful trophy wife with as much personality as he's got, which is absolutely none," Candy said, grabbing a pack of cigarettes off the coffee table. "He thinks, eventually, she'll fall in love with his 'inner beauty' while he's off drinking, gambling and banging hookers. Then, his wife has an affair with the hot gardener and he gets mad at his 'shallow' wife." Candy put the cigarette in her mouth. "Then he comes in here, demanding the truth and expects me to sympathize with him and his hypocritical double standard." Candy grabbed a lighter and lit the cancer stick. "So, yeah, I'd say you were right on the money."

"Thanks, I think," Chris said, looking distastefully at the cigarette Candy recently lit. "Though, maybe you could've been a bit more tactful." He suggested and, hoping that he didn't offend her, quickly added. "If you don't mind me saying."

"I'm paid to find the truth, not to listen to people whine," Candy said, taking a puff. "Enough about a rich guy with delusions. Why are you here?"

"Well—"

"No, don't tell me," Candy said, her eyes filling up with wonder. "You've been having dreams about living in a simpler time of shepherds and tribesmen. Back when people believed in the pagan gods and sacrificed goats and sheep to them. You see shadows of your life, only it's not your life!" Candy made gestures as if she was telling a story around the campfire. "During the day, you go about your life, feeling this ominous presence looming over you. Is it a ghost? You wonder, or is a past life finally catching up to you?"

All Chris could do was stare at Candy as she recited the tale like a child coming up with a new playtime story. However, after she treated him like an ignorant child, it was amusing to see Candy acting like an imaginative one.

"Hate to destroy your fantasy, but that's not why I came," Chris said proudly.

"No, but you didn't deny it was happening," Candy defended, looking outside the window with the cigarette in her hand. "So, what did you come to me about?"

"Actually, it wasn't a problem I was facing," Chris explained slowly. "It's a problem with my dad's hospital."

"Don't care about that," Candy said, folding her arms under her chest. "Just want to know what the case is and it better be something good, like a murder."

Chris nervously laughed.

"I was serious," Candy stated coldly.

"Well, it's more of a hacker case," Chris began hesitantly as Candy put on her socks. "At least, I think it is."

"Why?"

"For the past three weeks, patients have been prescribed medications they're allergic to," Chris explained. "My dad thinks it might be incompetent doctors but, each time he asks them about it, they always claim that they didn't file for that medication."

"So, you're thinking cybercrime," Candy concluded while putting on her boots. "And you want me to find the hacker."

"I think it's a possibility," Chris admitted. "It wouldn't be the first time a hospital got hacked."

"You got that right," Candy said as she grabbed her black leather jacket hanging on a nearby chair. "Look up the hospital on your phone."

Chris only blinked. "Does this mean you're taking the case?" he asked.

"No, I'm due for a gynecology check up and I thought I'd change hospitals," Candy said sarcastically.

Even with Candy's more... abrasive behavior, Chris couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, I really appreciate that you're willing to help me out even with our... troubled past."

"Wow, self-centered much?" Candy said as she grabbed her keys.

Okay, so she wasn't doing this out of the goodness of her heart. In fact, he was starting to wonder if Candy's heart shrunk to the size of a pea since he last saw her. However, he did promise his dad a detective and, when she said she was the best of the best, she wasn't exaggerating her talents.

"So, we're taking your car?" Chris asked as he searched for the hospital on his GPS.

"Unless you'd rather ruin yours," Candy said, putting her jacket on.

"Good point," Chris said, looking at his filthy suit and wondering if Candy would let him stop at the Tailor's.

Candy opened the door and beckoned Chris to get a move on, but all he could do was stand there bewildered. "Come on!" she said to him impatiently. "What are you waiting for, a formal invitation?"

"We haven't seen each other since high school," Chris pointed out.

Candy gave an irritated sigh. "Yeah, your point?"

"So, don't you want to catch up?" Chris asked her, feeling angry and hurt at the same time. "Find out what we've been up to since we last saw each other?"

"You want to play catch up, we'll do it in the car," Candy told her harshly. "And, if you don't get moving, I'm leaving without you."

"All right, I'm coming," Chris conceded, following Candy out the door.

_I hope I don't live to regret this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Chris got his detective and reunited with his long lost friend. What do you think happened between the two, and do you think Chris will be able to handle how eccentric his old friend's become. Also, which protagonist do you prefer, Tess or Candy?


End file.
